Julia A. Terwilliger

Photo of Julia A. Terwilliger by Djajeng Pratomo at this Ravensbrück memorial ceremonies, April 1995.

J ulia A. Terwilliger (1947-1998), a talented artist and teacher who lived in the Tampa area, accidentally learned about the Ravensbrück concentration camp for women in 1991 and then devoted her life to telling the story of its victims through her art.

She befriended and was loved by the committee of the Dutch survivors of the camp, and visited the camp memorial for the ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of its liberation in 1995 and again in 1996, Her artwork about the camp was shown at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, in 1997 and at the Middle Tennessee State University in 1998.

As she was preparing to expand and continue her work, she died unexpectedly and tragically at a young and fruitful age, She was a passionate, loving, and gifted woman whose special mystical and nurturing qualities endeared her to all those who knew her.